Life at Canterlot High

"Okay...truth or dare?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo hesitated, her eyes going left to right, as if trying to look between those two options. "Um...truth?"

Sweetie smiled. "Alright then. What was the moment you knew that Rainbow Dash was the one you were going to be fangirling over?"

Her friend frowned. "Firstly, I do not 'fangirl' over Rainbow, she's my idol. There's a difference!" She watched Sweetie roll her eyes, but she otherwise said nothing, thus allowing her to continue her answer. "As for when...I'd say it was during my first few days at CHS. I was out in the front, reading my textbook on the stairs, when all of a sudden she came along and did this awesome skateboard trick. Can't remember what it was called, but it was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen!" She smiled nostalgically. "Oh yeah, that was definitely the moment!"

Apple Bloom giggled. "Yeah, ah'd be impressed too, Scoots." The farm girl glanced around her bedroom, seeing all those who had gathered here for this night together. There was Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo of course, but there was also the rather unexpected addition of two other girls. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Now, go back a few years and the idea of these five girls spending time together like this would have been unthinkable. But these days, a lot had changed, and now it looked as if they were all having a nice time together, which Apple Bloom was of course happy about. Well, mostly happy anyway, as she did feel a pang of irritation over seeing her friends all here with better PJ's than her. Her green onesie was comfy of course, but even so, being the only one here to wear one was a little embarrassing. She tried to hide that feeling behind her smile however. "Okay, whose turn is it?"

The girls all glanced around, wondering who would be next, before Diamond did the honors. "Guess I'll go ahead and spin it then." She reached forward, taking hold of the empty bottle between them all on the floor, giving it a quick spin.

They watched as it went around and around and around, before finally settling on Silver, who smiled. "Alright then, guess it's me." The spectacled girl span it again, and here there was nervousness, for they know this second spin would decide the one asked the question. Silver watched in anticipation, then saw it eventually land on her closest friend, Diamond. Instantly, Silver hesitated. "Um...you know, I can just..."

But Diamond interrupted her. "No, it's fine. Ask the question."

Silver pondered that, looking to the other girls briefly, perhaps for inspiration. After a moment though, she finally asked her friend the question. "Truth or dare?"

Diamond nodded. "Truth."

Silver nodded back. "How were you able to convince your Mom to let you come over? Doesn't she normally hate it when you spend time with Apple Bloom and the others?"

Apple Bloom herself raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, how did you convince her?"

To that, Diamond gave a quick shrug. "No convincing needed. She and my Father got into a fight earlier today, and they always need me out of the house and visiting someone else when they're done. Usually it's Silver's place, but today I asked if it could be here instead."

Scootaloo looked to her with confusion. "Um...why do they need you out?"

Another shrug from Diamond. "Dunno. Something about needing to make up and not wanting me there when they do it. Don't know much beyond that." Eventually, the heiress noted that all the other girls had fierce blushes on their cheeks, as if they knew something she didn't, prompting curiosity on her part. "...What?"

Feeling an understandable need to change the subject as quickly as possible, Scootaloo cleared her throat, her eyes darting all over until they finally settled on Sweetie Belle. "Um...who's next?" Picking up the message instantly, Sweetie's hand shot forward to the bottle, spinning it and, thankfully, drawing everyone's attention to it. Round and round it went, until it slowly stopped and pointed to Scootaloo herself. The latter didn't say anything, instead gesturing for Sweetie to carry on, which she did, and again the bottle span. When it stopped a second time, it wound up on Silver Spoon, causing a look of mischievousness on Scootaloo's part. "Okay then, Silver, truth or dare?"

Considering her position carefully, Silver adjusted her glasses before giving her response. "Truth."

Apple Bloom scratched the side of her cheek. "Ah'm sensin' a theme with this game so far."

Ignoring her, Scootaloo thought long and hard, then eagerly rubbed her hands together. "So...who would you rather kiss, Snips or Snails?"

Immediately, everyone looked to her with clear indignation, which Apple Bloom alone was willing to put into words. "Scoot! That ain't fair! Those boys are...ugh, why would ya make her pick between them?!"

Scootaloo, completely unconcerned, gave a shrug. "Meh."

It wasn't much of an answer, but Silver wasn't willing to forfeit her place in the game, so she actually took a minute or two to think on her possible answer. Even Diamond was growing curious as to what her closest friend would say to this, and after a while, the spectacled girl finally spoke, albeit with a massive blush as she did so. "I guess...Snails?"

Scootaloo nodded slowly. "Okay...because...?"

Folding her arms, Silver glanced away. "I don't know! I guess...his voice just sounds less annoying than Snips' does. Nasally isn't great, but it's better than that screeching."

The other girls looked to each other, then seemed to share at least a little bit of agreement over that. "Those two are still gross...but yeah I guess Snails is at least a little bit less so," Diamond admitted.

Sweetie giggled. "Honestly, I'd even prefer kissing Spike over those two! But, you know, on the cheek or something because...well...dog."

After the group shared a quick laugh over that, Silver leaned forward. "It sucks we're not a couple of years older, because then we'd have the likes of Flash on the menu."

Diamond rolled her eyes, then looked to Silver with some incredulity. "Really? That's who you'd pick?"

Silver, looking at least a little irritated to her friend, started sounding a touch more defensive. "What, you don't like my taste?"

Diamond shrugged. "No, no, he's fine. But it's like saying Superman's the best superhero out there. Sure, he's the best for a reason, but...it's kind of a boring answer, you know?"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gave each other a quick look, then the latter finally replied to Diamond's words. "Since when were you into comic book superheroes?"

Looking to her, Diamond seemed almost offended by the question. "What, you think just because I'm the rich girl here that means I can only have been interested in rich girl things?" She placed her hand upon her chest. "Scootaloo, my dear friend, you have cut me to my core."

Though it was clearly a fake moment of upset on Diamond's part, it nevertheless had the effect of causing a fair amount of laughter all around, lifting up the mood considerably from what it had been before. Apple Bloom, sighing afterwards, looked down to the bottle between them. "Well, this thing ain't gonna spin itself." Reaching for it, she gave a vigorous spin, and after only a few moments, she saw it land on Diamond, causing some disappointment on Scootaloo's part, as evidenced by her irritated groan. But Apple Bloom raised a finger. "We gotta go by the rules, Scoots, even if she's had a turn already." Seeing her friend fold her arms with a huff, Apple Bloom span again. Unfortunately for her, this resulted in the bottle landing on her as the one to be asked the question, causing a slow blink on her part. "Well...shoot."

Smirking, Diamond tapped her chin. "Okay then, Miss Apple, truth or dare?"

Leaning back slightly, Apple Bloom thought about it, then gave a quick shrug. "Well, we've had truth a couple o' times already, so...dare?"

Diamond was surprised by the answer, but quickly got to thinking, with a mischievous grin coming to her shortly afterwards. "Okay then...I dare you...to put on your sister's magic necklace."

The silence that followed the words was deafening, and all of the girls looked to her as if she'd lost her mind. In fact, Scootaloo decided to voice that exact sentiment. "Are you crazy?!"

"Why would you ask her to do something like that?!" Sweetie added.

"Yeah, I've gotta agree with them on this one, Diamond. There's crazy, and then there's that!" Silver declared.

But Diamond was unconcerned with their worries, instead just shrugging and looking only to Apple Bloom. "Well? You can refuse if you like."

Slowly, Apple Bloom's eyes narrowed. "Y'all jus' wanted ta win by askin' a super-dangerous dare, right?"

A quick chuckle from Diamond. "Guilty as charged. So, if it's all the same with you, I think I'll just go ahead and declare myself the winner."

Apple Bloom grimaced, then slowly glanced to the door of her bedroom. Diamond saw her do this, and actually started to look somewhat worried herself, her earlier confidence melting away as the moments passed. As Apple Bloom thought long and hard, pretty soon every set of eyes was on her, and before long she let out a deep sigh, turning again to Diamond with a determined look. "Alright...ah'll do it."

Much like with Diamond's dare, everyone was stunned by what they heard, and none more so than Diamond herself. "Wh...what?!"

Slowly, Apple Bloom got to her feet, her friends never letting their eyes stray from her. "Ah said it...an' now ah'm gonna do it. If wearin' her necklace is the dare...then that's what ah'm gonna do!"

Scootaloo leapt up, followed shortly by Sweetie Belle. "You...you can't!" the former announced.

Apple Bloom's eyes narrowed. "Ah can...an' ah will." And without even another word, the young farmer slowly walked away from her circle of friends, never once looking back to see their reactions. She went to her door, reaching for the knob and turning it. After slowly peeking out into the hallway, she saw that there was nobody else to see her do it, so she took a single step outside. Applejack's room was right across from her, and so she was at her destination already. She stared at it for the longest time, knowing that powerful magical artefact was just beyond that door, and that her sister was not there with it right now. Taking a deep breath, she slowly reached forward. "Well...here goes nothin'."

But she didn't manage to touch the knob, for her hand was grabbed and immediately yanked away. Her heart skipped a beat, fully expecting it to be her sister, or perhaps Big Mac. Instead, she looked on with surprise to fine that it was none other than Diamond, who looked to her with tears in her eyes. "Stop!" she yelled to her.

Apple Bloom, who was understandably confused, stepped back slightly. "What?!"

Diamond kept hold of her hand, looking to her and sounding genuinely worried. "I forfeit! You hear me?! I forfeit!"

Naturally, such an announcement from Diamond of all people was quite the shock, and so Apple Bloom glanced around. Sure enough, Scootaloo, Sweetie and Silver were there too, but it was the girl holding her hand that kept her interest right now. "Ya...yer willin' ta jus'...quit?"

Diamond nodded frantically. "I am! That necklace is super-dangerous, Apple Bloom! There's no telling what could happen! You could get hurt, or...or worse!"

Apple Bloom frowned. "I thought ya cared bout winnin'?"

Diamond shook her head. "Not if it means you end up in danger like that!"

"Why?" Apple Bloom asked.

"BECAUSE WE'RE FRIENDS!!!" Diamond blurted out. All was silent afterwards, and the girls all looked to her, completely shocked at her having just said that. Diamond herself, wiping the tears from her eyes, exhaled deeply, her gaze finally straying from Apple Bloom and staring at the floor instead. "Do...do I really just need to come out and say it before you know it?"

Apple Bloom stared at her in silence for quite some time, as did everyone else. Then, after a while, the redhead smiled, stepping forward and, in a movie that shocked Diamond to no end, hugged her. "Yeah...we're friends."

Diamond blinked rapidly, uncertain about this gesture on her friend's part, but after a while her defences lowered, and she returned the hug. The other girls looked to one another, smiled, then rushed over, creating a massive group hug between the five of them. But while this was all nice and good, it wasn't long before the head of Granny Smith poked itself up from the stairway, looking down the hall with concern. "Ah heard screamin'! Is everythin' oka..." She paused, seeing the hug, and without even needing a single word of context about why the hug was happening, she smiled, retreating back downstairs. "Alrighty then...g'night, girls."